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How does one know what a group believes? With the Neopagan community, there is no central authority. There are no definitive texts. There is no creedal test. In the absence of a creedal test, you can be a member of a group without sharing beliefs with other members. You merely identify yourself as a member of the group. Identity is not the only measure of group membership. Other measures are behaviors such as association and practice.
There are certain practices that have verifiable origins and distributions. If we know where a practice comes from, we can distinguish between those who engage in it and those who don't. This is particularly the case with Wiccan practice.
Individuals are in the Neopagan community because they share beliefs, behavior or identity. The question is, what are these beliefs they share. This survey measures the prevalence of beliefs ascribed to the community by those in and out of the community. (see bibliography.) It verifies there is a commonality of belief, behavior and practice even if one of the practices is an aversion to declaring group membership.
Holding a belief logically makes one a member of the group of people who hold that belief. Engaging in a practice logically makes one a member of the group of people who engage in that practice. But neither guarantees that one will be aware of one’s membership in those groups or that one will identify as a member of those groups.
On this subject I was influenced by R. D. Laing's discussion of the nature of group membership and identity. Laing points out that who we think we are can differ from who other people think we are. The nature of identity is such that it is possible for a group identity to include the idea of not belonging to the group. "It is possible to think what everyone else thinks and to believe one is in a minority. It is possible to think what few people think and to suppose that one is in the majority" (R. D. Laing's "Politics of Experience", p. 81.)
Laing's interest is primarily psychoanalytical, but because he examines the individual in a social context, he moves from psychology to sociology. The question of how individuals' beliefs affect society is a sociological question, a point made by Peter Berger "The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion".
If we define the community by shared beliefs, but the individuals who share these beliefs do not identify themselves as members of the community, then we have a primary conflict between identity and belief. What do Neopagans believe? This question leads immediately to the question, who are Neopagans?
The survey begins with basic demographic information: sex, sexual preference, age and ethnic background. The second section asks questions about specific religious identity and group membership. Section three contains questions about belief in the areas of science, truth, divinity, life after death and sin. The fourth section asks questions about religious practice, primarily about specific ritual practice, clergy and magic. The fifth section is about psychic phenomena. The questions are about belief, practice and certain physical characteristics associated in folklore with psychic ability. In the sixth section I gave participants an opportunity to provide any additional information.
In order to formulate the questions in the section on practices, I used "A Witches Bible Compleat" by the Farrars’ and Starhawk's "The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess". The Farrars’ book is a fairly definitive record of Wiccan practice, but Wiccans only make up one part of the Neopagan community. I was especially interested in people who reported that they performed a measurable practice but did not identify themselves as members of the group who originated that practice. It would be as if someone reported that he or she took Communion daily but did not admit to being a Christian. (Though it has to be noted that among Christians, there is a doctrinal test, whereas among Wiccans, there is no doctrinal test, only practice.)
In this survey I made three hypotheses about the demographics of the Neopagan community. I hypothesized that more of the respondents would be female than male. Neopaganism in general and goddess worship in particular are often characterized as being of more interest to women. Universally women tend to outnumber men in organized religions. I hypothesized that Neopagans were more likely to be European than any other ethnic identity. Anecdotal evidence indicates Neopaganism is a white, European phenomenon. I hypothesized that there would be a larger percentage of respondents who identified themselves as bi-sexual or gay/lesbian than would be in the general population. I made this hypothesis based on anecdotal evidence in the Neopagan literature that showed a high tolerance for diverse sexual practices.
Neopagans share certain beliefs about the nature of reality, truth, divinity, magic, life after death, and sin. I predicted that Neopagans would believe that science is valid but inadequate, that they would not believe in absolute truth, that they would believe in reincarnation but not in sin.
It seemed reasonable to me that people who have had psychic experiences would be more likely to believe in them. Psychic phenomena are more socially acceptable in the Neopagan community so the hypothesis would be that these people are more likely to have experienced psychic phenomena. I also expected a high correlation between the belief in psychic phenomena and the experience of psychic phenomena. I did not expect any correlation between the physical traits associated with psychic phenomena in folklore and the experience of psychic phenomena.
Neopagans seem to place a strong value on independent thought. I predicted that they would resist identifying as members of any group.
I had observed that people who consider themselves religious also consider religion to be spiritual, while some people who don’t consider themselves religious do not think that religion is spiritual. I had assumed that there would be those who considered themselves spiritual but not religious, but fewer if any who considered themselves religious but not spiritual. Among people who belong to religious organizations, there is an understanding that religion is spiritual. Among those who reject religious institutions, there is a belief that religion is not spiritual. I predicted that people who did not consider themselves religious would also not consider themselves members of groups.
I expected that the same independent spirit that caused people to claim no group membership would also cause them claim no ritual form.
Twelve step groups place a strong emphasis on giving control over to a "higher power". I hypothesized that people in twelve step groups were more likely to believe in a literal interpretation of God.
In my experience many people who claimed no ritual form in fact use Wiccan ritual form. The default ritual form of the Neopagan community is the Wiccan ritual form. Therefore I predicted that people who claimed no ritual form would answer yes to the questions about particular Wiccan ritual elements.
Wicca has a clergy training program so I predicted that more Wiccans than other Neopagans would claim to be clergy.
© Eva M. Snyder last updated 8/22/01
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